Right fielder Logan Staup threw out a C.B. Aycock base runner at home plate to end the game and give the Cardinals a 7-6 win over the Golden Falcons in the first round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.

Jacksonville, the third seed from the Coastal Conference, will play at league foe South Central in the second round on Tuesday. South Central beat Eastern Wayne 3-0 on Friday.

C.B. Aycock was the top seed from the Eastern Carolina Conference. The Golden Falcons defeated the Cardinals 5-3 in the second round last year.

“We got our chance at revenge,” JHS coach David Fleischer said.

Yet that revenge didn’t come easy in the seventh inning. Aycock put runners on first and second with two outs when Bobby Hampton came to the plate with already two hits.

Hampton singled to right field, but the ball took one hop to Staup, who then threw to catcher Christian Heisey on one hop. Heisey tagged the lead runner for the out at home.

It was Staup’s fourth assist to home this season.

“It was a bang, bang play at the plate,” Fleischer said. “Oh man, our guys went crazy after that. You couldn’t ask for a better way to end the game. We just made a play.”

Ryan Thompson earned the save after he pitched two innings, allowing five hits and allowed two runs. He came in for Blake Heatherly, who pitched five innings, allowed six hits and four runs and struck out three.

The Cardinals gave up four runs in the bottom of the first inning, but came back with six in the top of the second.

“They jumped out on us in the first inning but then we come back in the second inning. I don’t even know what to say after that,” Fleischer said. “We came back and punched them in the mouth.”

Staup finished 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI while Thompson was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Swansboro 10, Jordan Matthews 9: Hunter Henry drove in the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to lift Swansboro past Jordan Matthews in the first round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs.

The Pirates, the third seed from the East Central Conference, will play at league foe Topsail on Tuesday in the second round. Topsail beat Richlands 10-1 on Friday.

Jordan Matthews was the second seed from the Mid-State Conference.

The game was tied 9-9 when Swansboro’s Ryan Murphy drew a one-out walk. He moved to second on Jordan Behan’s grounder.

Henry then singled up the middle with two strikes to bring Murphy home. Henry also had a three-run single in a five-run sixth inning for Swansboro.

“They were huge hits with two outs,” Swansboro coach Rusty Ross said. “Hunter just adjusted and put the ball in play both times.”

Murphy finished 3-for-4 with four runs.

“When Ryan gets on like that, that’s huge for us,” Ross said.

Left-hander Sean Burke earned the win after he pitched the rest of the way after he came in the second inning. Burke allowed a two-out triple in the seventh, but retired the next batter to end the game.

Dixon 3, Ayden-Grifton 1 (10 innings): Dixon used a pair of bases-loaded walks in the top of the 10th inning and a complete-game gutsy effort on the mound by J.P. Padgett as the Bulldogs beat Ayden-Grifton in the opening round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs.

Padgett struck out 11 and allowed just three hits — all singles — for the Bulldogs, the No. 3 seed out of the Coastal Plains Conference who travel to East Carteret (12-6) to face their CPC brethren in the second round. East Carteret beat Rosewood 15-0.

Miles Padgett walked to lead off the 10th and was lifted for pinch runner Daniel Mabe, who went to second on a wild pitch by reliever Connor Bowen before Quinn Ryan struck out. Avery Grafius reached on an error on a dropped fly ball to the outfield before J.P. Padgett was walked intentionally to load the bases.

After Dylan Grafius popped up a bunt attempt to Bowen for the second out, Cameron Greeley and Corey Singleton both walked to force home two runs.

Topsail 10, Richlands 1: Clark Cota and Trent Hansley combined for a no-hitter as Topsail downed Richlands in the opening round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs.

Cota went the first four innings, striking out 10 while walking three and hitting two more and giving up an RBI-sacrifice fly to Hunter Jarman in the third with the Pirates leading 6-0 at the time.

Hansley came on to pitch the final three innings for Topsail, the No. 1 seed out of the East Central Conference. The Pirates will play host to ECC brethren Swansboro on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Swansboro (16-7) beat Jordan Matthews 10-9.

South Columbus 2, Croatan 1: South Columbus (13-11), the third seed out of the Waccamaw Conference, surprised Croatan in the opening round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs in Broad Creek.

Croatan, the No. 2 seed out of the East Central 2-A Conference, finishes 14-8.

Further information wasn’t available.

SOFTBALL

Dixon 5, Union 0: With seven hits by seven different players and Alexis Whaley pitching a shutout, Dixon opened the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs with a victory over Union in a performance its coach called “great.”

“It was probably one of the best games I’ve seen them play all year,” coach Dawn Buchanan said.

The Bulldogs will travel to Trask (17-1) on Tuesday, time to be set, for a second-round game against the No. 1 seed out of the Tri-County Conference. Trask routed West Columbus 23-1 in its playoff opener.

Whaley (7-4) struck out six and didn’t walk a batter while scattering five hits. She also was 1-for-3 at the plate with 2 RBIs. Kenna Silance was 1-for-2 with two runs batted in for the Bulldogs, who scored single runs in the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

Buchanan said the performance was strong “from every standpoint.”

“We’ve been talking all year about putting the ball on the ground and we’ve struggled with pop-ups,” she said. “Tonight they did a great job of hitting line drives and putting it on ground. I think we only had maybe two pop-ups all game, which is a huge improvement for us.

“Fielding the ball, we’ve struggled with errors this year. To come out and play an errorless game is pretty good, and Whaley did a great job on the mound. She was ahead in the count I think every single time. She did a great job of hitting her spots.”

Whiteville 3, Swansboro 2: Whiteville scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the winning run coming home with two outs, to slip past Swansboro in the opening round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs.

Croatan 4, Reidsville 0: Four different players scored for Croatan, including Claire Page, who also had two of her team’s four assists, in blanking Reidsville in the second round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs.

The Cougars , the No. 4 seed out of the East Central Conference, will face the winner of tonight’s Eastern Randolph-Swansboro match next week.

“It was probably one of our better games of the season,” Croatan coach Paul Slater said. “It was a total team effort. We did a good job. Nobody was selfish.”

Brennan wins one, loses one: Swansboro junior Anthony Brennan lost in the quarterfinals of the NCHSAA 2-A state championships at the Cary Tennis Center.

Brennan won his opening match, beating Austin Barker of North Surry 6-2, 6-0, but then fell to Cedar Ridge’s Zac Marion 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals — the same round Brennan lost in last season.

“They were very well matched,” Swansboro coach Megan Mahone said. “It was a battle, that’s for sure.”